Vending machine for creating and dispensing personalized articles

ABSTRACT

A system for dispensing customized articles may include a vending machine that includes an article holding area having one or more articles that each include a film on at least a portion of the article, an energy generating print device, a processor, and a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium may include one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive an indication of a selected article, receive a selection of one or more content items to be printed on the selected article, and cause the energy generating print device to apply energy to the portion of the selected article having the film. Applying such energy may cause a visual representation of the selected content items to be displayed on the portion of the selected article.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/807,754 filed Nov. 9, 2017, which is adivisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/789,135 filed Jul. 1,2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,842,456, issued Dec. 12, 2017. The disclosuresof each priority application are fully incorporated into this documentby reference.

BACKGROUND

Creating personalized or customized articles, such as mementos or gifts,is often a time intensive process and one that is typically notperformed on an on-demand basis due to the sophisticated software andequipment that is involved.

SUMMARY

This disclosure is not limited to the particular systems, methodologiesor protocols described, as these may vary. The terminology used in thisdescription is for the purpose of describing the particular versions orembodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope.

As used in this document, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art. All publications mentioned in this document are incorporatedby reference. All sizes recited in this document are by way of exampleonly, and the invention is not limited to structures having the specificsizes or dimensions recited below. As used herein, the term “comprising”means “including, but not limited to.”

In an embodiment, a system for dispensing customized articles mayinclude a vending machine that includes an article holding area havingone or more articles that each include a film on at least a portion ofthe article, an energy generating print device, a processor, and acomputer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage mediummay include one or more programming instructions that, when executed,cause the processor to receive an indication of a selected article,receive a selection of one or more content items to be printed on theselected article, and cause the energy generating print device to applyenergy to the portion of the selected article having the film. Applyingsuch energy may cause a visual representation of the selected contentitems to be displayed on the portion of the selected article.

In an embodiment, a method of dispensing a customized article mayinclude receiving, by a processor of a vending machine, an indication ofa selected article, receiving a selection of one or more content itemsto be printed on the selected article, causing, by the processor, anenergy generating printing device of the vending machine to apply energyto the portion of the selected article having the film, where applyingsuch energy causes a visual representation of the selected content itemsto be displayed on the portion of the selected article, and causing theselected article to be positioned in a dispensing portion of the vendingmachine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example vending machine system according to anembodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an example vending machine according tovarious embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of selecting anarticle from a vending machine according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of example hardware that may be usedto contain or implement program instructions according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following terms shall have, for purposes of this application, therespective meanings set forth below:

An “article” refers to a physical item having an exterior portion onwhich custom printing may be applied. Example articles may include,without limitation, food or beverage containers, bottles, cups, articlesof clothing, signs, containers and/or the like.

A “computing device” or “electronic device” refers to a device thatincludes a processor and non-transitory, computer-readable memory. Thememory may contain programming instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, cause the computing device to perform one or more operationsaccording to the programming instructions. As used in this description,a “computing device” or “electronic device” may be a single device, orany number of devices having one or more processors that communicatewith each other and share data and/or instructions. Examples ofcomputing devices or electronic devices include, without limitation,personal computers, servers, mainframes, gaming systems, televisions,and portable electronic devices such as smartphones, personal digitalassistants, cameras, tablet computers, laptop computers, media playersand the like.

A “content item” is a visual characteristic of an article. For example,content items may include pictures, graphics, text, backgrounds,patterns, shading, shadowing, colors, color schemes, fonts, line types,embossing, cutouts, monograms, silhouettes and/or the like.

A “vending machine” refers to an electronic device that dispenses atleast one article.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example vending machine system according to anembodiment. As illustrated by FIG. 1, a vending machine 100 may be incommunication with a one or more mobile electronic devices 116 a-N via acommunication network 118. For instance, a mobile electronic device 116a-N may include an application that may facilitate communication betweenthe mobile electronic device and a vending machine 100. A communicationnetwork 118 may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a mobile or cellular communication network, an extranet, anintranet, the Internet and/or the like.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a front and a rear perspective, respectively,of an example vending machine according to an embodiment. As illustratedby FIGS. 2A and 2B, a vending machine 100 may include a user interface102, an article holding area 104, an electronic device 106, such as aprocessor, a computer-readable storage medium 108, an energy generatingprint device 110, a printing area 112, and a dispensing portion 114.

At least a portion of a user interface 102 may be located on an externalportion of the vending machine 100. A user interface 102 may include oneor more display screens and/or one or more input devices such as, forexample, a touch screen, a key pad, voice-activated input device and/orthe like. In some embodiments, a user interface may include a paymentinterface such as, for example, a currency collection machine, a creditcard terminal and/or the like. In certain embodiments, a user interface102 may include a camera.

In an embodiment, an article holding area 104 may be located in theinterior of a vending machine 100. In some embodiments, at least aportion of an article holding area 104 may be visible from outside thevending machine. In other embodiments, an article holding area 104 maynot be visible from outside the vending machine. An article holding area104 may be a space of area within a vending machine where articles thathave yet to be selected, purchased or otherwise processed are stored. Insome embodiments, an article holding area may include one or more slots,bins, compartments and/or the like where articles may be kept.

In various embodiments, an electronic device 106 may be in communicationwith a user interface 102. For instance, an electronic device 106 mayreceive input from a user interface. In an embodiment, an electronicdevice 106 may be in communication with a printing device 110. Aprinting device 110 may be a device that is capable of transposing oneor more images onto one or more articles. In an embodiment, a printingdevice 110 may be capable of performing one or more direct digitalmarking techniques in order to print a design on an article. A directdigital marking technique may involve selectively applying energy to afilm on an article to generate one or more images. Examples of directdigital marking techniques may include, without limitation, ZINK®printing technology, Datalase® technology, thermal energy, radiantenergy, mechanical energy, and/or the like.

ZINK® printing technology utilizes a ZINK-enabled printer and ZINKPaper® to generate full-color output without using ink. Heat from aZINK-enabled printer activates color-forming crystals that are embeddedin layers of the ZINK Paper®. ZINK Paper® includes multiple layers thatinclude cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals, and a protective polymerovercoat layer. Before heat is applied, the crystals appear clear.However, when heat from a ZINK-enabled printer is applied to the ZINKPaper®, the dye crystals change color depending on the intensity andduration of the heat that is applied.

Datalase® technology utilizes color change materials that can be appliedas a coating or incorporated into a substrate. When low power CO₂ laserlight is applied to the material, it generates a color change in thepigment.

In certain embodiments, the application of energy to a film of anarticle may occur in a printing area 112 of a vending machine. Once anarticle is completed, it may be dispensed to a consumer via a dispensingarea 114 of a vending machine.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example method of selecting anarticle from a vending machine according to an embodiment. Asillustrated by FIG. 3, a processor of a vending machine may receive 300an indication of a selected article. In an embodiment, a processor mayreceive an indication of a selected article from a user interface of avending machine. For instance, a user may enter a selection of anarticle using a user interface such as, for instance, a touch screen, atouch pad or a keyboard, and this selection may be transmitted to andreceived 300 by a processor.

In another embodiment, a processor of a vending machine may receive 300an indication of a selected article from a mobile electronic device. Forinstance, a mobile electronic device may include an application throughwhich a user may select an article. In certain embodiments, a mobileelectronic device may determine one or more vending machines in thevicinity of the mobile electronic device such as through GPS orshort-range communication technology such as Bluetooth. A mobileelectronic device may receive an indication of one or more availablearticles at one or more of the determined vending machines, and maycause a depiction of one or more of the articles, such as, for example,a picture, a description and/or the like, to be displayed to a user viathe mobile electronic device. A user may select a desired article fromthe presented options, and the mobile electronic device may transfer anindication of the user's selection to a processor of the vendingmachine.

In an embodiment, a processor may receive 302 a selection of one or morecontent items to be printed on the selected article. A content item mayinclude a picture, a graphic, text, a background, a pattern, a shading,shadowing, a color, a color scheme, a font, a line type, embossing, acutout, a monogram, a silhouette and/or the like. A processor mayreceive 302 a selection of one or more content items from a userinterface. For instance, a user may use a user interface to select oneor more content items to be printed on an article, and this selectionmay be transmitted to a processor. In some embodiments, a processor maycause a menu of available content items to be displayed to a user via auser interface, and the user interface may receive a selection of one ormore of the displayed content items. In other embodiments, a user mayspecify one or more custom content items to be printed on an article.For instance, a user may use one or more design tools such as, forexample, drawing, photography or other tools to design one or morecontent items. As another example, a user may upload one or more contentitems to a vending machine using a user interface. For instance, a userinterface may include a USB port, an SD card slot or other mechanism bywhich a user can transfer or upload one or more content items to a userinterface. A user may select one or more uploaded content items.

In various embodiments, a processor may receive 302 a selection of oneor more content items from a camera. A user may use a camera of avending machine to take one or more pictures, which may be used ascontent items. For instance, a user may use a camera of a vendingmachine to capture an image of the user or anything that is in view ofthe camera. A camera may send one or more captured images to a processorof the vending machine.

In some embodiments, a processor may receive 302 a selection of one ormore content items from a mobile electronic device. For instance, amobile electronic device may cause a menu of available content items forone or more vending machines to be displayed to a user via the mobileelectronic device. In other embodiments, a user may specify one or morecustom content items to be printed on an article using a mobileelectronic device. For instance, a user may use one or more design toolssuch as, for example, drawing, photography or other tools to design oneor more content items. As another example, a user may select one or morecontent items from a memory of a mobile electronic device or a memory incommunication with a mobile electronic device to use as a content item.For instance, a user interface may select one or more pictures from apicture roll or other list using a mobile electronic device. A mobileelectronic device may send one or more selected content items to aprocessor of a vending machine.

In an embodiment, a processor may generate 304 and cause a displaydevice to output a final visual display to be printed on an article. Aprocessor may generate 304 a final visual display by combining one ormore of the received content items with one or more background contentitems. A background content item may be a content item that cannot bechanged, altered or modified by a user. For example, a user may wish topurchase a customized soda can at a baseball game. The user maycustomize a picture to be displayed on a portion of the soda can, butthe user may not be able to change the text that is displayed on thesoda can such as, for instance “Little League—Tigers vs. Lions—Jul. 6,2015.”

In an embodiment, one or more background content items may be assignedto particular vending machine or article design by an administrator. Inother embodiments, one or more content items may be determined based ona selection of a user. For instance, when a user selects an article, auser may have the ability to select a template associated with thearticle. A template may include one or more customizable areas where auser may add user-provided content items and/or one or more backgroundcontent items. In certain embodiments, a final visual display may onlyinclude the selected content items if no background content items aredesignated.

In an embodiment, a processor may cause 304 a selected article to bepositioned in a printing area of the vending machine. In certainembodiments, an article may be positioned in a printing area when thevending machine is loaded or stocked. In other embodiments, a processormay cause 304 an article to be physically moved from an article holdingarea to a printing area. For instance, a processor may instruct amovable positioner, such as an arm of the machine, a movable pedestaland/or the like, to move an article to a printing area.

In an embodiment, an article may include a film on at least a portion ofthe outside of an article. A film substrate may be a substrate thatchanges color or on which a design may appear when energy is applied toit. In some embodiments, the film may be a color forming film. Anexample film is ZINK Paper®. For instance, when heat from a ZINK-enabledprinter activates molecules embedded in ZINK Paper®, color may emerge onthe paper. In certain embodiments, the color that emerges may bedependent on the amount and/or intensity of the energy that is applied.

In various embodiments, an energy generating print device may be athermal printing device, a radiant printing device, and/or the like. Athermal printing device may apply heat to a film substrate such as, forexample, a ZINK-enabled printer. A thermal printing device may includeone or more printheads and/or one or more rollers. A printhead mayinclude an array of energy-generating elements, which may be in physicaland/or thermal contact with a film.

In an embodiment, a radiant printing device may apply radiant energy toa film substrate. One or more energy-generating elements of a printheadof a radiant printing device may include a laser. For example, a lowpower CO₂ laser may be used to apply energy to a film.

A printhead may be in communication with one or more processors. Aprocessor may control an intensity and/or duration of energy generatedby one or more printheads. For example, a processor may control anamount of power provided to one or more printheads, which may in turncontrol the amount of energy generated by one or more of theenergy-generating elements. In certain embodiments, an energy generatingprint device may apply energy to a film by passing the film between oneor more printheads and one or more rollers. For instance, an articlehaving a film applied thereto may be passed between one or moreprintheads and one or more rollers. Alternatively, a film may be passedbetween one or more printheads and one or more rollers and then appliedto an article.

For example, an article may be positioned in a vending machine with afilm pre-applied to the article. In other embodiments, a processor maycause a film to be applied to an article. For instance, a processor maycause a film applying apparatus or dispenser to apply a film substrateon at least a portion of an article. In various embodiments, a processormay cause a film to be applied to an article after the article ispositioned in a printing area.

In an embodiment, a processor may cause 306 a visual representation ofone or more content items to be printed on an article. A processor maycause 306 a visual representation of one or more content items to beprinted on an article by sending one or more instructions to an energygenerating print device to selectively apply energy to at least aportion of the film of the article. The instructions may includeinstructions about one or more locations or positions on the film towhich energy is to be applied. In certain embodiments, the instructionsmay include instructions pertaining to a certain design, content itemand/or the like. The instructions may include instructions pertaining toan amount of energy to apply to a particular film position, an intensityof energy to apply to a particular film position and/or the like. Anenergy generating print device may be an electronic device thatselectively applies energy to a film to produce one or more designs orrepresentations of content items. Examples of an energy generatingdevice may include, without limitation, inkless printers such as, forinstance, ZINK-enabled devices.

In certain embodiments, an energy generating print device may receive308 the instructions, and may apply 310 energy to the selected articlein accordance with the received instructions. In various embodiments, anenergy generating print device may apply energy via one or moreprintheads. In other embodiments, the energy that is applied may begenerated from one or more lasers of an energy generating print device.For instance, an energy generating print device may apply 310, via oneor more printheads, energy having a certain intensity for a certainperiod of time and at a certain position on the article in accordancewith one or more received instructions. As energy is applied to the filmof an article, the color activated depends on the temperature and timeof application. For example, if an energy generating print device is toactivate one color, its temperature may not be hot enough and/or itwon't be applied long enough to activate a second color.

In an embodiment, a processor of a vending machine may cause a printedarticle to be positioned in a dispensing portion of the vending machine.For instance, a processor may send one or more instructions to aprinting area of a vending machine to move or otherwise cause a printedarticle to be positioned in a dispensing portion of the vending machine.In various embodiments, a user may be able to retrieve the printedarticle from the dispensing portion. A dispensing portion may includefor instance, a slot, a tray, an opening and/or the like.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of hardware that may be used to containor implement program instructions. A bus 400 serves as the maininformation highway interconnecting the other illustrated components ofthe hardware. CPU 405 is the central processing unit of the system,performing calculations and logic operations required to execute aprogram. CPU 405, alone or in conjunction with one or more of the otherelements disclosed in FIG. 4, is an example of a production device,computing device or processor as such terms are used within thisdisclosure.

CPU 405 represents one or more processors that perform calculations andlogic operations required to execute a program. Any number of processorsmay be available, and they may be part of a single electronic device ordistributed across any number of networked electronic devices. Theprocessor(s) may access a computer-readable memory device 425 containingprogramming instructions.

When this document and any claim uses the term “processor,” then unlessspecifically stated otherwise it is intended to refer to all suchembodiments (i.e., single processor or multiple processors). When thisdocument or any claim in the document uses the term “computer-readablememory,” “computer-readable medium,” or similar phrases, then unlessspecifically stated otherwise it is intended to refer to embodiment thatinclude a single device, embodiments in which data is distributed acrossmultiple devices, and embodiments relating to various sectors of asingle device. Read only memory (ROM) 410 and random access memory (RAM)415 constitute examples of non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia.

A controller 420 interfaces with one or more optional non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media 425 to the system bus 400. These storagemedia 425 may include, for example, an external or internal DVD drive, aCD ROM drive, a hard drive, flash memory, a USB drive or the like. Asindicated previously, these various drives and controllers are optionaldevices.

Program instructions, software or interactive modules for providing theinterface and performing any querying or analysis associated with one ormore data sets may be stored in the ROM 410 and/or the RAM 415.Optionally, the program instructions may be stored on a tangible,non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a compact disk, adigital disk, flash memory, a memory card, a USB drive, an optical discstorage medium and/or other recording medium.

An optional display interface 430 may permit information from the bus400 to be displayed on the display 435 in audio, visual, graphic oralphanumeric format. Communication with external devices, such as aprinting device, may occur using various communication ports 440. Acommunication port 440 may be attached to a communications network, suchas the Internet or an intranet.

The hardware may also include an interface 445 which allows for receiptof data from input devices such as a keyboard 450 or other input device455 such as a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen, a remote control, apointing device, a video input device and/or an audio input device.

It will be appreciated that the various above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirablycombined into many other different systems or applications orcombinations of systems and applications. Also that various presentlyunforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations orimprovements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in theart which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for dispensing a customized article, thesystem comprising: a vending machine comprising: an article holding areacomprising one or more articles, wherein each article comprises a filmon at least a portion of an outside surface of the article, an energygenerating print device, a processor, and a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium that comprises one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: receive anindication of a selected article, receive a selection of one or morecontent items to be printed on the selected article, cause the energygenerating print device to apply energy to the portion of the selectedarticle having the film, wherein applying such energy causes a visualrepresentation of the selected content items to be displayed on theportion of the selected article, and cause the selected article to bepositioned in a dispensing portion of the vending machine.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive an indication of a selectedarticle comprises one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive an indication of a selectedarticle from a user interface of the vending machine.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive an indication of a selectedarticle comprises one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive an indication of a selectedarticle from a mobile electronic device in communication with theprocessor over a communication network.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the one or more programming instructions that, when executed,cause the processor to receive a selection of one or more content itemsto be printed on the selected article comprise one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive aselection of one or more content items to be printed on the selectedarticle from a user interface of the vending machine.
 5. The system ofclaim 4, wherein the one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive a selection of one or morecontent items from a user interface of the vending machine comprise oneor more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to receive one or more content items from a camera of the userinterface.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive aselection of one or more content items comprise one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive aselection of one or more content items from a mobile electronic devicein communication with the processor over a communication network.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more programming instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processor to cause the energy generatingprint device to apply energy to the portion of the selected articlehaving the film comprise one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to send one or more printing instructionsto the energy generating print device, wherein the printing instructionscomprise information pertaining to one or more periods of time and oneor more intensities with which energy is to be applied to the film tocause the visual representation of the selected content items to bedisplayed on the portion of the selected article.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein: the computer-readable storage medium further comprises oneor more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to: identify one or more background content items associatedwith the selected article, and generate a final visual display bycombining the received content items and the identified backgroundcontent items, the one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to cause the energy generating printdevice to apply energy to the portion of the selected article having thefilm comprise one or more programming instructions that, when executed,cause the processor to cause the energy generating print device to applyenergy such that the energy causes a visual representation of the finalvisual display to be displayed on the portion of the selected article.9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable storage mediumfurther comprises one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to cause the selected article to be movedfrom the article holding area to a printing area of the vending machine.10. The system of claim 1, wherein the energy generating printing devicecomprises one or more of: a thermal printing device, or a radiantprinting device.
 11. A system for dispensing a customized article, thesystem comprising: a vending machine comprising: an energy generatingprint device, a processor, and a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium that comprises one or more programming instructions that,when executed, cause the processor to: receive an indication of aselected article, wherein the selected article comprises a film on atleast a portion of an outside surface of the selected article, receive aselection of one or more content items to be printed on the selectedarticle, cause the energy generating print device to apply energy to theportion of the selected article having the film, wherein applying suchenergy causes a visual representation of the selected content items tobe displayed on the portion of the selected article, and cause theselected article to be positioned in a dispensing portion of the vendingmachine.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive anindication of a selected article comprises one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive anindication of a selected article from a user interface of the vendingmachine.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive anindication of a selected article comprises one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive anindication of a selected article from a mobile electronic device incommunication with the processor over a communication network.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the one or more programming instructionsthat, when executed, cause the processor to receive a selection of oneor more content items to be printed on the selected article comprise oneor more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to receive a selection of one or more content items to beprinted on the selected article from a user interface of the vendingmachine.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more programminginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive aselection of one or more content items from a user interface of thevending machine comprise one or more programming instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to receive one or more content items froma camera of the user interface.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein theone or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to receive a selection of one or more content items compriseone or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to receive a selection of one or more content items from amobile electronic device in communication with the processor over acommunication network.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the one ormore programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processorto cause the energy generating print device to apply energy to theportion of the selected article having the film comprise one or moreprogramming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor tosend one or more printing instructions to the energy generating printdevice, wherein the printing instructions comprise informationpertaining to one or more periods of time and one or more intensitieswith which energy is to be applied to the film to cause the visualrepresentation of the selected content items to be displayed on theportion of the selected article.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein:the computer-readable storage medium further comprises one or moreprogramming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:identify one or more background content items associated with theselected article, and generate a final visual display by combining thereceived content items and the identified background content items, theone or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to cause the energy generating print device to apply energy tothe portion of the selected article having the film comprise one or moreprogramming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor tocause the energy generating print device to apply energy such that theenergy causes a visual representation of the final visual display to bedisplayed on the portion of the selected article.
 19. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprisesone or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to cause the selected article to be moved from an articleholding area to a printing area of the vending machine.
 20. The systemof claim 11, wherein the energy generating printing device comprises oneor more of: a thermal printing device, or a radiant printing device.